


Just Passing Time

by StephaniD



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: 1950s, F/M, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, Pre-Relationship, Rollerskating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-05 07:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15859149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephaniD/pseuds/StephaniD
Summary: I think I finally succeeded at giving Ezri some fluff.While searching all the Ezri fic here, I saw some Ezri/Jake fic and was confused for a minute, but upon thinking and rewatching, they could be good friends, possibly try a relationship. So here's the two of them rollerskating and being cute.Placeholder title





	Just Passing Time

Jake sighed and picked at his food. Benjamin had told Ezri he was urging Jake to talk to her, but the young man seemed reluctant.    
“Jake, you know this isn’t a counseling session, right? We’re just friends having lunch. We can talk about anything you want. Or we don’t have to talk.”    
“But Dad will keep bugging me if I don’t talk to you.”    
“So just tell him you talked to me.” Ezri shrugged. Jake shook his head, smiling without much humor.    
“You’ve got a lot of courage Ezri. Not even Jadzia or Nog would suggest lying to Captain Sisko. But even if I tried, he’d be able to tell I didn’t talk to you.”    
“Able to tell how? He’s not secretly Betazoid, is he?” She joked.  
“No, he can just tell from how I act.” Jake sighed again. “I just feel so bored all the time. There's nothing war-related to report on, I don’t have any story ideas, I’m sick of playing dom-jot on my padd, Nog’s so busy I barely see him, I’m just bored with everything.” 

“I have a new holosuite program I’ve been meaning to try, the datarod just arrived a few days ago, you’re welcome to try it with me.” She offered.   
“What is it?”    
“Roller skating. From what I’ve read, it was very popular on ancient Earth. They had entire buildings dedicated to it, and people could either buy or rent roller skates.”    
“I think I remember something about that from school. Are they the ones with 4 wheels in a line, or on each corner of a rectangle?”    
“The second one. So you’ll join me?”    
“Sure.” He shrugged.    
“I have one condition for you.” She held up a finger. “You’re not allowed to tell anyone how many times I fall over. I’m hoping my memories of being Emony will help, but our baseball adventure has shown that they can’t always be trusted.”    
“Deal.” His smile was more genuine that time.    
“Tonight? 2200?”    
“Sure. Anything I should bring?”  
“Nothing I can think of.” 

While not busy with work, Ezri did some research on roller skating and roller rinks, sending Jake the information she deemed most relevant and exciting. Mostly the period dress and slang. That evening he arrived at the holosuite in thick blue cotton pants, a thin white knit cotton short-sleeved shirt, with a shiny red jacket on top. Ezri thought it was silk, but couldn't be certain.   
“Hey, nice outfit.” He grinned. Ezri looked at him suspiciously. She was wearing a pastel pink felt skirt that reached her knees, with an image of a black poodle on it, a thin white knit cotton short-sleeved shirt, and a square of pastel pink silk she'd folded and tied around her neck.   
“Quark managed to make quite a few remarks in the time it took for me to pay for two hours in the holosuite.”   
“Honestly, you look nice. A lot more relaxed than when you’re in uniform. What’s your skirt made of? These jeans are heavier than the pants I'm used to.”  
“Something called felt, I instructed the computer to use synthetic fibers. It's pretty weighty, too. Hopefully that'll keep us from hurting our knees too badly.” She stuck the datarod in the slot and they entered. 

The roller rink was busy and loud. Ezri took Jake's hand so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd as they made their way to the skate rental window.  
“Size 8, please.” She grinned.  
“And for your fella?” The attendant asked.  
“Oh, he's not- We're not- We're friends, nothing else.” Ezri stumbled over her words, caught off guard.  
“Size 11.” Jake smiled.  
“You want pads, too?”  
“Yes, please.” Jake nodded. They accepted their gear and found a bench, helping each other put everything on. 

They slowly and awkwardly made their way to the rink, watching the characters skate, some showing off. Ezri tried to step down into the rink, but her foot slid out from under her and she fell.   
“Woah!”   
“Ezri?!” Jake knelt on the carpet to help her up.   
“That's one.” She sighed, rubbing the base of her spine where she'd hit, one of the few vulnerable points not covered by protective gear. Though rubbing wasn't very effective with wrist protection on.   
“Hey, miss, are you alright?” A young boy skated up and stopped beside her. “Want me to teach you how to skate?”   
“Not right now, thank you.” She smiled at the boy before looking to Jake for his thoughts.   
“We'll be fine on our own.” He agreed.   
“Computer, reduce number of customer characters by 75%.” Ezri stated. Most of the characters disappeared. Arms outstretched, Ezri took small, clomping steps away from the entrance to the rink so Jake had over a metre of space to step down.  
“You're supposed to skate, not walk.” Jake teased with a smile. Though it was juvenile, Ezri stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed.  

They watched the characters on the rink skate and tried to copy their movements, albeit awkwardly and jerkily. They figured out how to skate in a straight line and clutched each other's hand as they started around the rink properly, though the wrist braces made it awkward.  
“Oh no, how do we turn?” Ezri laughed as they approached the curve. They both started trying to turn, but ran into each other and toppled over. Eventually they managed to turn fast enough to not run into the wall, and after a few successful laps around the rink they decided to stop and try the food at the snack counter, tired from the unfamiliar exercise and heavy skates.  
“We have stoppers on the front of our skates, so, uh…” Jake trailed off as they neared an entrance to the rink.  
“Lift a heel, I guess?” Ezri suggested. Jake shrugged with a smile. They both tried and fell over, their protective gear clacking as it hit the rink. “Maybe this program wasn't the best idea.” Ezri grumbled, pulling her skirt down.  
“We did stop.” Jake pointed out, awkwardly getting to his feet, earning him a glare from Ezri. “Come on, let's have a snack.” Skating was slower and more difficult on the carpet, thin though it was. 

They sat at the stools and contemplated the menu above.  
“I think I'll try a malt.” Ezri smiled at the attendant.  
“Can I try some of yours?” Jake asked.  
“Sure.”  
“One malt, two straws.” The attendant said as he wrote on a small pad of paper. “What flavor?”  
“Chocolate?”  
“Strawberry?” The two turned to each other simultaneously.  
“I can do a chocolate strawberry malt.” The attendant smiled.  
“That sounds good.”  
“Yes, please.” They replied.  
“Anything else?”  
“No, thank you.”  
“We're good for now.” The attendant went to make it for them. 

“I did not expect this program to be such a workout.” Ezri smiled.  
“Yeah, this is tougher than I expected. And I don't have any kind of training to fall back on, I bet you did something like this in Starfleet Academy.”  
“Nope. I'm mostly drawing from Emony's gymnastics training, and the few times Jadzia went ice-skating as a child. Though she had nice soft snowdrifts to fall into, not solid walls.”  
“We're probably going to be sore tomorrow.” Jake agreed with a nod.  
“If I don't take these skates off soon I feel like I might be taller tomorrow.” Ezri joked as she kicked her dangling feet.  
“That wouldn't be a bad thing, you're barely taller than Quark.”  
“Hey!” She smacked his arm playfully. “Just because you're nearly the tallest human on the station doesn't mean we all aspire to your height.”  
“Do you want to take your skates off? I can give you a hand if you want.” He offered sincerely.  
“I think I do need a break.” Ezri sighed. “I can always put them back on if we decide to go again.” She pulled a leg up to her chest to start undoing the laces on the skate and Jake averted his eyes as her skirt rode up. “Ugh, this is so annoying. Thank you for not looking.” She dropped her leg and smoothed her skirt. “If I run this program again, I'm dressing like you.”  
“You do look nice like that.” He repeated. “Here, I'll get your skates.” He held a hand out towards her feet, pulling her skate into his lap.  
“Thank you. These things are so heavy I can barely lift my legs past 45 degrees.”  
“Hey, if you want to try again in the future, maybe I can wear a skirt and you can take my skates off.” He grinned.  
“You'll have to replicate your own, I think mine would be short on you, plus pink isn't really your color.”  
“I could replicate a light blue one.” Ezri's skate fell to the floor with two a thunk and she offered the other one.  
“I'd want a holoimage of that.”  
“You don't think I'd look good?” He joked.  
“No, I think you'd look great.” Ezri smiled.  
“Speaking of,” Jake suddenly, unnecessarily, looked down at the skate, “do you think, when we're done here, would you be okay if we took a holoimage together? It's just- I'm having a lot of fun, and I'd like something to remember it by that won't disappear when we leave the holosuite.” He rushed an explanation.  
“Sure. I think I'd like a holoimage, too. Here, let me help with your skates, being able to move your ankles feels so good.” She untied one of Jake's skates while he got the other.  
“Chocolate strawberry malt for two.” The attendant set a large metal cup in front of them, two plastic straws sticking out of the brown frozen drink. They dropped Jake's skates with Ezri's and each reached for a straw, 'mmm’-ing appreciatively at the taste and refreshing temperature. 

When they had finished their malt, Ezri decided to try another lap or two on the rink. Jake stood at the side to watch her, reaching out a hand for a high-five when she passed.  
“You're getting really good!” He called. Ezri straightened in surprise and pride at the praise, then lost her balance and fell. “Sorry!”  
“You did that on purpose, didn't you?” She hollered with a small grin. She picked herself up and skated over to him, running into the wall to stop.  
“I promise I didn't mean to make you fall. But I don't think that's how you're supposed to stop.” He smiled.  
“So get back out here and show me how it's done, then.” She challenged, having to look up at him even more than usual due to the rink being about 15cm lower than the rest of the flooring.  
“You just want me to make a fool of myself again.” They grinned at each other.  
“If you won't join me, I think I'm done. This is a lot more tiring after taking a break.” She skated to an entrance and Jake gave her a hand up.  
“You ready to go?” He asked.  
“Yeah, you?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Jake, can we not use Quark's holocamera?”  
“Sure, I think Dad has one we can use. If you're cool with that?”  
“Sure.” They pulled their shoes on and Jake checked with his father on his combadge that the man had a holocamera, and that they could use it in a few minutes. 

“Walking feels weird now.” Jake observed as they headed to the habitat ring.  
“Mmm.” Ezri nodded her agreement.  
Sisko called the door open when they arrived.  
“Jake-o, Old Man!” He grinned. “Looking good. Have a good time?”  
“Good, but tiring.” Ezri smiled.  
“Dad, where's the holocamera?”  
“Oh, in one of the storage boxes still, you know I hardly ever use it.” He waved to the rest of his quarters.  
“I'll get it.” Jake sighed.  
“So?” Sisko asked quietly.  
“I didn't see many symptoms of depression.” Ezri confided. “I think he's honestly just bored and lonely. Both you and his best friend have been busy lately, there's only so much for a young man to do alone on this station for weeks on end. Especially when you consider the war.”  
“Thanks, Dax.”  
“Don't expect me to do this again, Benjamin. This wasn't technically a session, but I do have confidentiality laws to uphold, no matter how long we've been friends.”  
“Got it, Old Man.” He grinned confidently at her frown.  
“Found it.” Jake held the camera up as he re-entered the room. “Dad, could you?”  
“Sure thing.” 

He held up the camera, then complained that they were too stiff and formal when Jake and Ezri stood next to each other and smiled at him.  
“Sit on the couch, tell me about the program, ignore the holocamera.” He instructed. Jake snuck an eye roll at Ezri as they fell on the couch.  
“Since when were you such a photographer, Ben?”  
“For two of my favorite people, I can make an effort. So, how was it?”  
“Tough.” Jake replied. “I didn't expect it to be so exhausting, I might have to start working out with Nog.”  
“Your ankles are immobilized by the skates, which weigh about a kilogram or two each.” Ezri started explaining.  
“But by the time we finished it felt more like five.” Jake pointed out with a grin. “You've got protective gear on your knees, elbows, and wrists.”  
“It holds your hands at an angle of 135 degrees.” Ezri added. “And helmets, of course, but no protection for the one area we fell on most.”  
“Our butts.” Jake confirmed, nodding.  
“Sounds like it's your egos that are bruised.” Sisko laughed and ordered two cold packs from the replicator for them to sit on.  
“It gets worse.” Ezri said. “This program must have been written with children as the intended audience, because one of the characters offered to help us learn after we fell, but they looked to be about 12 years old.”  
“I mean he was the right height to teach you.” Jake teased, ruffling Ezri's hair.  
“Hey, quit it!” She laughed, reaching up to rub his close-cropped hair. Unheard, Sisko took multiple pictures of their fun, but Jake spotted him and tried to use his fingers to make Ezri appear to have antenna. She pushed his hands away and stuck her tongue out again.  
“You want to explain that, Dax?” Sisko smiled, lowering the camera after he had a few snapshots of her.  
“It's the Jadzia in me.” She waved the question off.  
“You want to explain that?” He asked again.  
“I’ve never done anything like skating before, so I was focusing on memories of when Jadzia was younger and would ice skate.” Ezri explained. “It helped me learn faster, and it also meant I felt younger. Hanging out with Jake also helps me feel younger. So traits of a younger Ezri come out, like sticking my tongue out.” She shrugged. “Honestly, Ben, at this point you'd think you'd be used to Daxes acting weird.”  
“Weird, yes; like a child, no.” He grinned.    
“It's good to act like a child every now and then.”  
“It was a lot of fun, Dad. We could just focus on not falling over, and for a couple of hours it was like the war didn't exist. We were just a couple of young adults trying something new.”  
“Like Vic’s, but more active.” Ezri added. 

“‘Just a couple of young adults’, Jake?” Sisko asked.  
“Dad.” He groaned. “Can we not do this right in front of Ezri?”  
“Do what?” She looked between the men suspiciously.  
“He likes to remind me that you're over 300 years too old for me to be dating.”  
“Benjamin.” Ezri crossed her arms. “You know that's not how it works.”  
“You're Dax. You've got 8 previous lives in there, many of them with parenting experience. You stopped dating your old boyfriend because he reminded you of one of your grandsons.” Sisko argued.  
“But I'm also Ezri. 23 year old, anxious Ezri. I'm closer to Jake's age than Julian's. Wait, how old is Nog, again?” She turned to Jake, who was biting his lips to try and hide a smile, and failing. “The point is,” she refocused, “there's no weird age gap going on, and you can't forbid people from dating, and I'm not going any further on this subject.”  
“You're 23, but also 357.” Sisko tried again.  
“Ben, if it worked like that, reassociation wouldn't be so taboo, and Jadzia would have been able to, possibly even encouraged to continue a relationship with Lenara Kahn.” She took a deep breath at the memory of heartbreak, still intense. “But it doesn't work like that, because the host is more than just the holder of the symbiont, we're our own people, too. Dax is 357, and that does influence how I see things, but I'm still 23. Jadzia only acted all 'older and wiser’ when she first came to DS9, newly joined. Then she got comfortable with Dax, and you, and people on the station, and acted more like the 28 year old she was.”  
“Anyway, Dad, Ezri and I aren't dating, let us see those pictures you took.” Jake reached for the holocamera. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Comments very much appreciated, and any suggestions for the title will be taken into consideration! 
> 
> Rambling analysis of Jake and Ezri:  
> When they first meet, Jake is honestly interested in Ezri as her own person, not simply the newest host for Dax. Though they don't interact much, Jake seems to see her as Ezri first and Dax second, while the other characters have trouble with that for a while.


End file.
